Board Members

Board members are appointed by the Trustees of the FAF for a five-year term and may serve up to ten years. The chairman serves full time and the six other members serve on a part-time basis. The members of the GASB are required to have knowledge of governmental accounting and finance and a concern for the public interest in matters of accounting and financial reporting.

David A. Vaudt, Chairman

David A. Vaudt was named chairman of the GASB effective July 1, 2013. Mr. Vaudt joined the GASB after serving 10 years as Iowa’s elected state auditor. Prior to his election, Mr. Vaudt worked for 25 years in the Des Moines, Iowa office of KPMG LLP, including 13 years as an audit partner. Mr. Vaudt has served as president of the National State Auditors Association, chair of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, and chair of the Iowa Accountancy Examining Board. He also served on the boards of numerous nonprofit service organizations in Iowa.

Jan I. Sylvis was appointed to serve as vice chair of the GASB effective January 1, 2015. She began her first term on the Board on July 1, 2007 and was reappointed for a second term on the GASB, which began July 1, 2012. Ms. Sylvis brings extensive state government accounting and auditing experience to her Board work. She is the retired chief of accounts for the state of Tennessee, a role to which she was appointed in 1995 and retired from at the end of 2014. Ms. Sylvis also served the function of controller and managed the state’s centralized accounting system. Prior to her 1995 appointment, she served in various Tennessee state government audit roles for 16 years.

James E. Brown began serving as a member of the GASB on July 1, 2012. Previously, he was a partner at BKD LLP serving in the National Office Accounting and Auditing Quality Control Department from 2003 until 2011. Prior to that, he was the director of Accounting and Auditing and an audit partner in BKD’s Southern Missouri offices. He was also the professional practices partner for BKD’s government and not-for-profit organizations assurance practice from 1984 until 2011. Mr. Brown is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is a past member of its Auditing Standards Board and Board of Examiners. He also is an instructor for AICPA continuing education courses.

Brian W. Caputo began serving as a member of the GASB on July 1, 2015. He brings to this role more than twenty-five years of experience in Illinois government in varied positions utilizing both his practical and theoretical expertise in governmental financial reporting. Serving as chief financial officer/city treasurer for the City of Aurora since 1998, Mr. Caputo has extensive experience as a preparer of local government financial statements. Through his current role and prior positions as director of finance/treasurer for the Village of Mount Prospect and assistant finance director for the Villages of LaGrange and Hoffman Estates, he has wide-ranging experience in working with local governments of varying sizes. Mr. Caputo also worked as an auditor with Price Waterhouse in Chicago.

William W. Fish began serving as a member of the GASB on February 1, 2012. Previously, he was the chief investment officer of Chartis U.S., a property and casualty subsidiary of AIG. Earlier, Mr. Fish was head of municipals at AIG Investments, co-managed the municipal research group at ABN AMRO, and was responsible for building and managing the municipal securities research department at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. He has served as president of the Society of Municipal Analysts and as chairman of the Municipal Analysts Group of New York. Mr. Fish received his bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College and his master of business administration in finance from the University at Albany, New York.

Michael H. Granof, Board Member
Michael H. Granof was reappointed for a second term on the GASB effective July 1, 2015. He began his first term on the Board on July 1, 2010. Dr. Granof is the Ernst & Young Distinguished Centennial Professor of the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1972. Appointed in 1984 to his current role, he served as Chairman of the school’s Department of Accounting from 1984-1988. He is also a professor of public affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs of the University of Texas at Austin, a position he has held since 1999. Dr. Granof holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

David E. Sundstrom was reappointed for a second term on the GASB effective July 1, 2014. He began his first term on the Board on July 1, 2009. In December, 2011, Mr. Sundstrom was appointed by the Sonoma County, California Board of Supervisors to fill the remaining term of the retired auditor-controller, treasurer-tax collector. He also serves as a trustee of the Sonoma County Employees’ Retirement System helping to oversee a $2.2 billion investment pool. Following Orange County’s bankruptcy in 1995, Mr. Sundstrom joined the county as its first director of internal audit and helped lead the county’s recovery. He was then elected as the county auditor-controller in June 1998 and was subsequently reelected for three additional four-year terms.